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Writing Reserach Papers

This guide was prepared by NetFirst editors Tina Goode, Kim Hardin, and Marette Irwin.

How to Write a Research Paper

Although writing a research paper can be one of the most daunting aspects your college career, it is also one of the most useful. Mastering research techniques and clearly stating the results of your investigations into a topic can add to your base of knowledge and help to develop techniques used in all courses of study, as well as in the "real world."

Using the World Wide Web makes writing your paper much easier, as you can find information on just about any topic, including how to write the paper. What used to take hours in a library now takes minutes of typing and you never have to worry about finding a resource only to be told it has been checked out by another student!

Here are the basic steps to writing a research paper:

The Preliminaries
1. Choose a topic: Make sure it's one you enjoy, because you'll be living with it a while! Check Web directories, search engines, and electronic journals for ideas.
2. Begin preliminary reading: Check out biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, dictionaries, and newspapers, many of which are available online.
3. Limit the topic: Look at encyclopedia entries, textbook headings, and library catalogs to restrict the topic to one that can be examined in the paper. Make sure you know the expectations from your professor in terms of paper length.
4. Develop a preliminary thesis statement: This sentence states the purpose of the paper and doesn't have to be fancy. (This paper will examine...) It can be changed later.

Gathering Data
1. Compile the working bibliography: Arrange your sources from the preliminary reading step, deciding which will be used in writing the paper. It may be a good idea to put the information on 3" x 5" index cards. Some professors require this.
2. Check out references: Be sure to check general and trade bibliographies, library indexes, and other resources available in your college library or online.

Taking Notes
1. Develop a preliminary outline: This helps arrange your ideas in the proper order and you can tell if you have enough data for the paper (or too much!)
2. Evaluate your source material: This is the time to determine your primary and secondary sources. Be sure to make sure the sources are reliable. Remember, not everything is true just because it's on the Web.
3. Begin note taking: Some professors require you to do this on 4" x 6" index cards. Be sure to refer to your outline as a guide.
4. Avoid plagiarism: It is important to reach your own conclusions, use your own words, and give credit where credit is due.

Writing the Paper (Finally)
1. Develop the final outline: Make sure you have all the information needed for your introduction, body, and conclusion. The final outline provides a clear, logical plan for the paper and makes paragraph development much easier.
2. Prepare to write: It's a good idea to give yourself a full week to allow enough time for writing, revising, and rewriting. Make sure your note cards follow the order of your outline. Consider your readers when determining the paper's tone and style.
3. Write the rough draft: Pay attention to writing style, technique, grammar, and punctuation. It is very important to know how to use source materials and cite them correctly. Check with your professor to see if Modern Language Association (MLA) or American Psychological Association (APA) format is to be used.
4. Revise and rewrite: Clean up any spelling or grammar mistakes and check the format of the text, citations, notes, and bibliography.
5. Proofread: This is the last chance to make everything perfect (or at least close) so it may be a good idea to set the paper aside for a while before proofreading. Many mistakes can be avoided by taking your time.

There are all kinds of resources available to help you write your research paper. Here are a few good places to start:

General Writing Resources:

Nuts and Bolts of College Writing
Michael Harvey offers a college writing guide. The guide contains tips on the writing process; instructions on how to write an essay; assistance with online research, quotations, and citations; and help with words, sentences, and punctuation.
http://www.nutsandboltsguide.com/

Purdue University On-line Writing Lab (OWL)
Presents the Purdue University On-line Writing Lab (OWL), which is designed to offer distance learning for the Purdue community, as well as other Internet users. Includes information on the Purdue University Writing Lab, a tutorial center for writers who want to work one-on-one with a tutor. Provides access to writing resources and Purdue resources.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/


Guide to Grammar and Writing
Features a collection of educational resources concerning grammar and writing, presented by Charles Darling and Capital Community-Technical College. Includes information on sentence structure, forms of communication, and composition, as well as quizzes, a FAQ, reference materials, and writing resources.
http://webster.commnet.edu/HP/pages/darling/grammar.htm

Resources for Writers and Writing Instructors
Presents a collection of Internet resources for writers and writing instructors, compiled by Jack Lynch. Offers access to newsgroups, style guides, grammar information, dictionaries, instructions on writing various genres, literary terms, newsletters, essays, publications, research, and more.
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/links.html

Elements of Style
Bartleby.com presents the full text of "The Elements of Style," by William Strunk, Jr. Users may search the manual. The manual covers the rules of usage, the principles of composition, words commonly misused, and words commonly misspelled.
http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html

Research Paper Guidelines:

Research and Writing Step by Step
Presents information on the step by step approach to research and writing for students provided by the Internet Public Library. Describes how to choose a topic, create a focus, gather information, prepare to write, and write the paper. Provides links to resources on writing, citing sources, evaluating information, online searching skills, and related sites. http://www.ipl.org/teen/aplus/stepfirst.htm

Constructing Your Research Paper
Offers information on constructing a research paper, provided by the McHenry Library of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Examines such issues as choosing a topic, using bibliographies, and finding print and electronic sources.
http://bob.ucsc.edu/library/ref/instruction/research/libres.htm

Dr. Gwen's Research Paper Information Page
Offers a directory of Web sites to assist students in doing research or term papers, compiled by Gwen Chandler-Thompson. Lists the steps for writing a successful paper. Links to dictionaries, writers' resources, and literary sources.
http://astro.fccj.cc.fl.us/LearningResources/DrGwen/research.htm

Researchpaper.com
Presents Researchpaper.com, a collection of topics, ideas, and assistance for school-related research projects, developed by Infonautics Corporation. Offers a directory of ideas for research papers in categories such as art and literature, history, science, business, and society. Includes information about using the Internet as a research tool, along with tips on improving the style and presentation of research papers. Links to academic-related Internet sites.
http://www.researchpaper.com/

Citation Resources:

Citing the World Wide Web in Style
Presents information on using the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) styles of bibliographic citation for WWW resources, provided by the Troy State University Regional Library. http://www.tsufl.edu/library/5/citation.htm

Journalism Resources: Karla's Guide to Citation Style Guides
Presents information about citation style guide topics that may be of interest to journalists and writers. Includes links to sites and information about American Psychological Association (APA) style, how to cite information from the WWW, the Chicago Style Guide, citing Lexis/Nexis, Modern Language Association (MLA) style, and other citation information. Links to other journalism related sites.
http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/journalism/cite.html

Footnote and Citation Style Guides
Presents a collection of Internet resources on generating footnotes and citing sources, provided by the Lehigh University Libraries. Includes major style manuals, including the "APA Style Guide" and the "MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers." Highlights guides for citing electronic sources. Offers instructions on citing sources in engineering, the sciences, and social sciences.
http://www.lehigh.edu/~inhelp/footnote/

Citing Electronic Sources
The Learning Page offers various examples of citations for such electronic sources as films, legal documents and government publications, maps, photographs, and sound recordings. The Learning Page, which is a service of the U.S. Library of Congress American Memory Collection, notes that there are no definitive guidelines for citing electronic sources. http://learning.loc.gov/learn/resources/cite/

Citation Style Guides for Internet and Electronic Sources Features citation style guides for the Internet and electronic sources, compiled by the University of Alberta Libraries. Explains the types of electronic sources and includes citation examples. Offers access to online style guides and lists print style guides in the university libraries. http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/citation/index.cfm

Internet Citation Guides
Presents a collection of online Internet citation guides to be used for citing electronic sources in research papers and bibliographies, provided by Memorial Library at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Notes that the guides are organized by style.
http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/citing.htm

Here is an additional citation guide that is useful: Citation Styles for Research Papers